Thais imprison 175 North Korean refugees, hold out for immigration fine payment

How nice to see Thailand doing its humanitarian part, imprisoning political and economic refugess from North Korea over some bullshit immigration fine. No doubt the Thai Immigration Dept. is hoping that South Korean missionaries will pay these outrageous fines on behalf of the refugees so that they can be expatriated. Kudos also to the Thai neighbors who turned these refugees in. What charming, giving, karma-conscious people Thais are.

from the Bangkok Post:

Seoul takes N Koreans from Thailand

Seoul (dpa) - Among 175 North Koreans held in Thailand, 18 refugees were due to arrive in South Korea aboard Asiana Airlines late Thursday night, local news media reported.

They are 16 North Koreans who have papers giving them formal refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and two North Koreans who have been separately detained by Thai immigration police, according to the South Korean embassy in Thailand and NGO officals.

The 16 North Koreans are among 175 North Korean defectors who were rounded up by Thai police in a raid on a Bangkok suburb Tuesday while they were hiding in a two-storey house with the help of South Korean missionaries.

Since 23 children under the age of 17 and the 16 North Koreans who are listed as the Persons of Concern (PoC) on the UNHCR list are excluded from trials, 134 North Koreans appeared in Thai court Thursday morning and were sentenced to fines amounting to 157 dollars each, local media reported.

The media reports quoted Thai polices and UN officials in Bangkok as saying the North Koreans were likely to be deported to third countries, including South Korea, after being imprisoned in Bangkok for the 30-day equivalent of the 157-dollar fine.

"Most of these 134 North Koreans prefer South Korea as their next destination," said a diplomat who asked not to be named.

The Seoul government has been cautious about the arrival of North Korean defectors in large numbers since its airlift of 468 defectors from Vietnam in 2004 upset North Korea.

Food shortages and severe flooding in July have been blamed for pushing North Koreans out of their homeland. Thailand is often chosen as a haven for them, partly due to a regional office of the UNHCR in Bangkok.